Method of and spout for filling valve bags



p cs. H. HARTMAN 2,296,163

METHOD OF AND SPOUT FOR FILLING VALVE BAGS Filed March 9, 1939 I, Llv I Carl H Had/nah Patented Sept. 15, 1942 METHOD OF AND SPOUT FOR FILLING VALVE BAGS Carl H. Hartman, New Rochelle, N. Y., assignor to St. Regis Paper Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 260,747

Claims. 7 (Cl. 226-48) This invention relates to a method of and spout for filling valve bags and has for its object to manipulate the valve of the bag during the filling operation in such a way that it will close more securely after the filling operation is completed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method and means whereby the better closing of the valve is secured in a way which also provides favorable venting means for the bag during the filling operation.

In filling valve bags, it is customary to insert a filling tube through the valve opening and fill the bag through the tube, then withdraw the tube from the valve opening and allow the material within the bag to close the opening. It sometimes happens that the material of the Valve crumples or folds in an irregular manner and as a result leakage openings are formed. The main object of this invention is to guard against such irregular and undesired folding of the valve during the closing thereof.

During the filling operation as ordinarily carried out, an appreciable amount of air is forced into the bag along with the solid filling material. The invention also affords a vent for this air and utilizes the venting action to assist in securing a proper shaping of the valve.

The invention is particularly suitable for filling paper bags or other relatively impervious bags and is particularly helpful in securing proper closing of the valves in sewed end bags or the like where it is customary to flatten the valve in the plane of the empty bag during shipment and thus create a fold line at the side of the valve most distant from the endof the bag. When the bag is distended by material filled thereinto and the valve is thereafter closed, it should lie fiat against the end of the bag and, therefore, the said fold should be flattened out or erased. With paper and similar material this is sometimes difiicult to accomplish and this difiiculty adds to the uncertainty of securing proper valve closure.

Other objects and details of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application,

Figure 1 shows the valve corner of a bag and a filling tube therein during the filling operation, parts being broken away to show the-filling tube in section;

Fig. 2 is a view of the filling tube from underneath;

Fig. 3 is a section along line 33 of Fig; 1;

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3, but showing the closing of the valve after the bag has been filled and the filling tube has been withdrawn;

Fig. 5 is a view of the valve corner of a bag before the filling tube is inserted therein; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the filling tube similar to that shown in Fig. 3, but without the bag therearound.

In the embodiment of th invention illustrated, there is a bag It! closed at the end by a sewn seam II and having at one corner a valve l2. In Fig. 1, there is shown inserted in the valve a filling tube [3. The tube is provided with a central longitudinal filling opening 14 which is circular in cross-section in the form shown, but which may be modified, if desired, to suit the shape of the stream which is filled into the bag. At the left hand or rear end of the filling tube, there are downwardly flaring flanges l5 and I6 which preferably extend to or slightly below the fiattened central portion ll, as most clearly shown in Fig. 6. Between these flanges and the central portion of the filling tube, there are provided grooves 18 and H3. The rear end of the tube is provided with a flange member 20 by means of which it is attached to a suitable filling machine which constitutes no portion of the present invention.

It will be seen that the under flap 2| of the valve is spread flat in a substantially horizontal plane during the filling operation as most clearly shown in Fig, 3.

As previously indicated, during the filling operation, a certain amount of air enters the bag along with the solid filling material. This material increases the air pressure within the bag to above atmospheric. Vent grooves l8 and I9 if merely open to the atmosphere will have a lesser pressure than in the interior of the bag and while constituting vent openings for the escape of air from the bag at the same time effect a differential pressure, less above the valve flap than below it so that the valve fiap is raised snugly against the underside of the central portion of the filling tube.

It will be noted that in the empty bag, as shown in Fig. 5, there is a fold line 22 along the middle of the valve on its remote side from seam ll. As shown in Fig. 3, this central fold line is straightened and eliminated during the filling operation by the construction of filling tube disclosed herein. Where the central portion I! of the filling tube is slightly above the edges of flanges l5 and Hi, this action upon the fold is accentuated by slightly reversing it. If desired, this action may be still more emphasized by providing a slight groove in the middle portion of part IT, as indicated at 23. It will be understood that in its broader aspect, the invention includes merely spreading the flap in a horizontal plane and that it may be carried further by actually reversing the original fold at 22 to some extent, if desired. It will be readily seen that to accomplish the method which comprises flattening the lower flap of the valve during the filling operation and holding it fiat or slightly reversing the central fold by differential pressures, will be carried out most successfully when the filling tube substantially fits the valve, at least at the left hand end of the tube as viewed in Fig. 1, so that the flap is drawn substantially tight. The differential pressures resulting from the vent grooves insure holding the flap in proper position and take care of a slight amount of excess paper in the valve.

While the form of filling tube disclosed has proven advantageous, it i obvious that various changes may be :made in the construction and contour thereof within the terms of the appended filling tube claims, and that the steps specified in the-method claims may be carried out by various modified mechanisms.

What I claim is:

1. A filling spout for filling valve bags having a rear end rounded on the top and flattened on the bottom whereby a valve that fits snugly on the spout has its under lip spread out in a substantially flat plane at least as broad as the opening through the spout, and having grooves running longitudinally of the flat side and forming vent openings.

2. A filling spout for a valve bag, said spout being provided with means to flatten the lower valve flap for a distance at least as wide as the opening through the spout and having a venting groove in its underside overlying the central fold line of the flap.

3. The method of filling a valve bag which comprises opening the valve, filling the bag through the opened valve, and spreading the lower flap of the valve to make the widest portion of the opening of the valve at the edges of said spread portion holding the middle thereof as high as the edges thereof during the filling operation, and providing a vent opening above said flap.

4. The method of filling a bag having a valve in the corner thereof which is flattened in the plane of the collapsed bag and has a central fold line at its side remote from the end of the bag, which comprises opening the valve, filling the bag through the open valve, and during the filling operation mechanically spreading the lower flap of the valve in a substantially horizontal plane while exerting greater air pressure 

